Site of former Kearney School, 5 Newcastle Road, Kearney, Portaferry, Co Down, BT22 1QQ

The site represents the former location of a National School built in 1853. It was demolished in 1974 and now contains a modern single-storey house. The school was situated at the junction of Newcastle Road and Kearney Road, approximately three miles southeast of Portaferry.

When surveyed in November 1970, the school building was described as a single-storey structure with a slated roof, rendered chimneys, and gabled ends featuring projecting verges and eaves. The walls were constructed of random split rubble, and it had four casement windows with two panes of glass separated by astragal glazing, each fitted with wooden shutters. A blocked, sheeted and glazed panel was part of the door on the right-hand side. The building was noted as being in poor condition and unoccupied at the time of the survey. The front facade was approximately 32 feet wide.

The National School ceased operation in 1930. The site's history is linked to an earlier school, established in 1823 and originally supported by grants from the Kildare Place Society, which was located roughly half a mile north along the Newcastle Road and is now a residential dwelling. This original school was superseded by the 1853 National School. Historical documentation, including Ordnance Survey Memoirs and maps from 1860, 1899-1900, and a valuation from 1861, provides further context.